Differences of T helper 17 cells and transforming growth factor-β1 between early and late primary biliary cirrhosis / 中华风湿病学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the differences of Th17 population and serum transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 levels between early-and late-stage primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) and their roles in pathogenesis.Methods Peripheral Th17 counts were analyzed by flow cytometry.The expression of IL-17A in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and TGF-β1 were measured by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction.Serum concentration of TGF-β1 was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.Liver biopsies were stained with hematoxylin-eosin to determine the pathological stage.Results were evaluated using KrustalWallis test followed by Mann-Whitney U tests for comparisons of Th17 population between patients with early and late PBC,patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and health controls (HCs).ANOVA followed by LSD t-tests were used for comparing IL-17 mRNA,TGF-β1 mRNA and TGF-β1 serum concentration between groups.The correlations between Mayo risk score and peripheral Th17 of PBC patients,Mayo risk score and serum concentration of TGF-β1 was analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis separately.Results The peripheral Th17 population increased in patients with early PBC (1.03±0.33)％,compared to those with late PBC [(0.48± 0.13％,U=14.0,P＜0.01],CHB [(0.56±0.35)％,U=104.5,P＜0.01],and HCs [(0.36±0.17)％,U=8.0,P＜0.01],while TGF-β1 changed in the opposite direction.Serum concentration of TGF-β1 elevated in late PBC (43.0± 18.7) ng/ml compared with early PBC (29.5±12.2) ng/ml,t=2.85,P=0.006.Conclusion The opposite changes of Th17 population and TGF-β1 level in early and late PBC indicated their different roles in different stages.Th17 may contribute to the autoimmune response in early PBC,participate in the occurrence of autoimmune inflammation,while TGF-β1 to fibrogenesis in late stage.In addition,the possible regulation mechanisms of differentiation of Th17 by TGF-β1 cannot be ignored.